Maribeth Joeright/MJoeright@News-Herald.com
Elijah Woytok, 4, of Nashport, OH learns and old-fashioned method of plowing the fields with the help of Rick LeMaster, an equine specialist at Lake Metroparks Farmpark, during the 23rd annual Fall Harvest Festival, Sunday. LeMaster and Belgian horses Fred, left, and Jim were giving plowing demonsrations for anyone who wanted to try.

Nearly 100 years of agricultural history was on display Sunday at the annual Fall Harvest Festival and Antique Tractor Show at the Lake Metroparks Farmpark in Kirtland.
In addition to the usual Farmpark attractions, which included a calf born on Sunday morning, attendees enjoyed grain threshing and field plowing demonstrations, wood carving and making apple butter and cider.
One of the most popular events is the Parade of Power, where tractors travel around Showman’s Circle with Farmpark administrator Andy Baker providing the facts and history of each model.
The oldest of the tractors was an early 1920s Fordson. The tractor was made by famous carmaker Henry Ford, but when he decided to begin making tractors, the Ford name was already taken, so he chose Fordson, Baker said.
“It’s amazing sometimes how little familiarity there is with agriculture,” he said, but a lot of parents bring their children to help them learn about what it takes to bring food to the dinner table.
The event normally brings 2,000 to 4,000 people to the Farmpark, but this year’s crowd was a little smaller than usual because of rain Saturday.
Baker added he always enjoys seeing young kids and older adults enjoy the machinery.
“As the generations get older and older the opportunities get less and less (to see this equipment), so it’s neat to see that out here,” he said.
Some of the tractors and machinery are owned by the Metroparks, but many are brought to the show by private owners.
Steve Paterek from Bainbridge Township, in addition to a tractor, brought his fully operational 1936 Sheldon quarter yard cement mixer. The mixer was produced until 1956 when it was replaced by mixers that were more compact and had a higher capacity.
“It was basically made for out west for farmers that couldn’t get concrete delivered,” he said.
Paterek purchased the mixer about 10 years ago and then spent about a year getting it up and running. Running on gasoline, Paterek added tennis balls to the mixer to demonstrate the tumbling action.
“Young kids are just marvelled by all the moving parts,” he said. “Sometimes I have a tough time keeping kids away at a safe distance.”

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